What we can learn from Jessica Harrington's spell on the cold list

If you still think of Jessica Harrington as a jumps trainer who dabbles in the Flat as a way of getting through the summer, some recalibration is necessary in light of the fact that the Fairyhouse success achieved by Autumn Evening on Saturday was the yard's first winner since October.

In years gone by, a midwinter drought of that kind would have been hard to credit but Harrington sounded sanguine about it as she reflected on the fact that Flat racers will dominate the equine population that pass through Commonstown this year.

"I couldn't care less," was the trainer's cheery response on Sunday, when asked about the run of 72 losers that preceded Autumn Evening. "They just weren't winning but the horses were going very close. They were running very well, so it didn't matter.

"It happens to everybody. A couple of them were unlucky. Some of them fell. Ashdale Bob, he jumped on top of a fence [at Leopardstown over Christmas]. It just wasn't going my way."

The last time Harrington drew a blank in Irish jump racing through November and December was all the way back in 2005, Moscow Flyer's final season. That experience may have been harder to endure, as she ran 83 jumps horses through those months in 2005, versus just 38 this time.

Harrington's number of Flat runners in Ireland has increased in each of the last seven years, from 185 in 2014 to 752 last year. Some reduction in the number of her jumpers could be seen as a natural consequence.

"I think I have 30 jumps horses, something like that," she reports. There was no particular intent to scale back. "It's just something that's happened.

"Anyway, I have plenty of jumpers and some nice young ones. They'll be coming out now and I just mooch along with them."

Sizing John jumps the last in front and stays on strongly to win the Cheltenham Gold CupCredit: Ian Walton (Getty Images)

However, her runners on the immediate horizon will probably not include Sizing Pottsie, despite the entry he holds for the Clarence House Chase at Ascot on Saturday. "He was only in there in case those two [Shishkin and Energumene] didn't turn up but it looks like they will. So I think I'm going to step him up to 2m4f."

Autumn Evening should ensure that the Harrington name is to the fore once more at the major spring festivals. "I was delighted with him. Again, he had been unlucky. He was running a big race and just had a stupid, novicey fall at Naas and the first time we tried him in a big handicap field, he just kinda got lost.

"He's a possible for the Ladbrokes Hurdle and the County Hurdle, there's plenty of options for him."

It's only five years since Harrington was a jump racing titan, sending out Sizing John to win Gold Cups at Leopardstown, Cheltenham and Punchestown in the space of three months. She also won the Coral Cup and the Grand Annual at that year's festival and added the Irish Grand National with Our Duke.

The next year brought Alpha Centauri's amazing summer of four consecutive Group 1 wins. Harrington has continued to win top-class Flat races, most recently in September, when No Speak Alexander won the Matron and Discoveries landed the Moyglare on consecutive days.

Her most recent top-class win in jump racing was Supasundae's Aintree Hurdle, almost three years ago. Hard as it may be for us jumps fans to accept, Harrington's focus has moved on to better-paying work.